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Genre, text type, and the language learning classroom

In a large scale corpus-based study of twenty-three genres and just under one million
words, Biber (1988) draws a distinction between genre and text type which has
important implications for the language learning classroom.
For Biber, the term 'genre' categorizes texts on the basis of external criteria, while 'text
types' represent groupings of texts which are similar in linguistic form, irrespective of
genre. Thus, the term 'genre' describes types of activities such as, for example,
prayers, sermons, songs, and poems, 'which regularly occur in society' (Dudley-Evans
1989: 77), and 'are considered by the speech community as being of the same type'
(Richards ​et al. ​1992:156).

Text types, on the other hand, represent groupings of texts which are similar in terms
of co-occurrence of linguistic patterns. Biber found that the same genre can differ
greatly in its linguistic characteristics. He also observed that different genres can be
quite similar linguistically.
The terms 'genre' and 'text type' thus represent different, yet complementary,
perspectives on texts. This article argues that the distinction between genre and text
type is an important and useful one for language learning classrooms.

ELT Journal Volume 50/3 July 1996 ​© ​Oxford University Press 1996 ​237

Notions of genre and text type

A ​number of definitions of genre have been influential in the area of genre analysis,
notably those of Martin (1984) and Swales (1990).
Martin's definition has been particularly influential in the work of the Australian
genre-based approach to teaching writing.
Martin (ibid.: 25) describes genre as 'a staged, goal-oriented, purposeful activity in
which speakers engage as members of our culture'. Further examination of Martin's
work, in which he gives examples of genres such as poems, narratives, expositions,
lectures, seminars, recipes, manuals, appointment-making, service encounters, and
news broadcasts, clearly shows that his definition takes largely the same perspective
on genre as that of Biber (1988).

Swales' (1990: 58) definition of genre as 'a class of communicative events, the
members of which share some set of communicative purposes which are recognized
by the expert members of the parent discourse community' shows that he, too, views
the notion of genre from a similar perspective to that expressed by Biber.

Various examples have been presented of the rhetorical structuring of different text
types. For instance, Meyer (1975), in an analysis of the rhetorical organization of
'expositions', presents four main types of text structure: time order, collections of
descriptions, comparisons, and cause and effect.

Other discussions of rhetorical patterning in texts can be found in the work of Hoey
(1983), who discusses problem-solution, general-particular, matching contrast, and
hypothetical-real texts, and Crombie (1985), who presents examples of the
problem-solution and the topic-restriction-illustration type of text. Hedge (1988)
presents text-type categories such as static descriptions, process descriptions,
narratives, cause and effect, discussions, compare and contrast, classifications,
definitions, and reviews. McCarthy (1991) and McCarthy and Carter (1994) discuss
rhetorical variation in texts, and present a number of examples of commonly occurring
text types.

Each of these descriptions of rhetorical patterning is extremely useful for the language
learning classroom.
This discussion may give the impression that the notions of genre and text type are
clearly defined in the area of genre analysis.

Whilst this is true in some cases, it is much less so in others, and, in particular, in
certain pedagogic applications of the results of genre analysis. In fact, some pedagogic
applications of genre analyses seem to be based on the notion of 'text type' rather
than 'genre'.

Derewianka (1991), for example, in her discussion of writing in schools, presents as


genre categories texts which she labels as recounts, narratives, information reports,
explanations, and arguments. Categories such as these can also be found in Martin's
more recent work on genre (see, for example, Martin 1989). This is also the case in the
work of Hammond ​et.al. (​ 1992) who, in a work focusing on adult second language
literacy development, list as genre categories anecdotes, descriptions, expositions,
news items, procedures, recounts, reports, and reviews.

An examination of the written texts presented in Hammond ​et ai, ​however, reveals
that these texts may be viewed from another perspective as well; that is, one which
identifies the genre and text type category membership of the genres in the terms
described above.

This alternative perspective is presented in Table 1.


Table 1: Examples of genres and text types (based on Hammond ​et al. 1992)

Examples of genre and text type

Recipe Procedure
Personal letter Anecdote
Advertisement Description
Police report Description
Student essay Exposition
Formal letter Exposition
Formal letter Problem-Solution
News item Recount
Health brochure Procedure
Student assignment Recount
Biology textbook Report
Film review Review
Recipe Procedure

It is clear from this analysis that more than one genre may share the same type. That
is, the genres of advertisements and police reports may both share the text type of
description. Equally, a single genre, such as formal letters, may be associated with
more than one text type; in this case, exposition and problem-solution.

Other examples of text types being associated with more than one genre can be found
in the work of Hoey (1983): problem-solution texts are described within the context of
advertisements, scientific discourse, short stories, and novels; general-particular texts
are described within the context of poems, novels, and scientific texts; matching
contrast texts are described within the context of poems and letters to the editor.
Equally, Crombie's (1985) work on discourse structures provides examples of
problem-solution texts within the context of scientific reports and advertisements, and
topic illustration texts within the context of advertisements and news reports.

Adapted from: Paltridge, Brian; ´Genre, text type, and the language learning classroom´,
Oxford, University Press, ELT Journal, 1996.

1. Have a quick look at these pieces of writing and say how many articles there are
2. What is it about? Or what are they about?
3. How many titles are there? And sub-titles?
4. Who wrote it/them? Where was it/were they published?

NOW, PLEASE READ THIS PASSAGE AND:

Underline: ​Sources of information


Quotations

Highlight: ​Definitions for ​genre in red


Definitions for ​text type in blue

Circle: ​examples of ​genre in red


Examples of ​text-type in blue

Choose an example of genre and relate it to your own experience.


Choose an example of text-type and relate it to your life.

Choose a passage​ (two or three lines) and ​paraphrase it.

Choose a passage (two or three lines) you don’t really understand and requires an explanation.

It is said that genre and text types are important for learning. Do you agree with this
statement? Please justify your answer.

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